Grace
As I walked back to Judy’s house, I smiled as I saw a friendly face sitting on my front porch. “Hi, friend,” I said, walking up to Josie who had two extra-large cups from KitKat’s 1950s Diner.
“Hi, friend,” she replied, standing up.
“How long have you been waiting?”
“Long enough to finish two of these drinks and go back to KitKat’s to grab two new ones.” She frowned, studying my face. “What happened?” she asked, nodding toward the bandage.
I touched my cheek. “Just some emotional release.”
“Are you all right?”
“If what’s in that cup of yours is what I think it is, I’ll be better soon enough.”
She smirked, handing a cup my way. “If I remember correctly, you were a Diet Coke girl with a few shots of whiskey.” When we were younger, we always used the extra-large cups from KitKat’s Diner when we wanted to get wasted in town but didn’t want anyone to know that the perfect Harris girl even knew what alcohol was. It was, of course, Josie’s idea. She was pretty great at secretly letting me break free for a small bit of time.
I grabbed the cup and laughed. “Yes.” I took a sip and made a face. “Geez, Josie!”
“I might have been a bit heavy-handed with that whiskey,” she told me.
“This is straight-up whiskey with a splash of Diet Coke, I think.”
“Confession—there’s no Diet Coke in that.” She placed her hand on my shoulder and lightly squeezed. “If anyone deserves straight whiskey, it’s you right now. How are you holding up?”
“I could be better.”
“Want to go egg Autumn’s house? I have a dozen eggs around the corner,” she joked. Well, I thought she was joking until I saw the seriousness in her eyes.
“No, Josie, we aren’t egging her house.”
“But can we toilet paper it? I got two-ply tissue. Only the best quality, too. It’s quilted. Soft as a down comforter. If anything, it’ll be like we’re wrapping the jerk’s place in a soft blanket.” She bit her bottom lip. “And then we’ll throw egg yolks at the tissue.”
I laughed, which felt so odd. Josie had that ability, though, to make the saddest person find a second of laughter. “I think we’ll hold off on the revenge.”
“Okay, but when it’s time, just say the word.”
“I promise I will.”
“Want to go to our old stomping grounds where we would people watch and get drunk without them knowing?” Josie asked, wiggling her eyebrows in hopes that I’d agree.
“Sounds like a plan.”
We walked through town to Kap Park and sat down on the bench that faced downtown Chester. When we were younger, we’d see so many insane things from that park bench. The drama that unfolded as we sipped our “Diet Cokes” and laughed was always entertaining.
But that day, everything felt different. The small town that used to make me laugh felt like a foreign country to me.
“You’re okay, buddy,” Josie said as we stared out at the events of the night. “I mean, you’re not, but you will be.”
Part of me believed her, while another part thought it to be nothing but a lie.
“Josephine and Gracelyn Mae, I haven’t seen you ladies sitting on this bench together in what seems like forever,” Charlotte stated, walking over to us in her high heels. Her pink painted lips curved into a wide smile on her face, and my stomach turned. The last thing I wanted to do that afternoon was deal with Charlotte’s nosy self.
